Temple's Jamal Mashburn Jr. averaged 25.5 points in two wins last week. (Photo: @its_jaymashjr)
By AARON BRACY
October 29, 2024
TEMPLE 2024-25 Big5Hoops.com Preview Package
-Temple Player Spotlight Story: Steve Settle III
-Temple Season Preview Podcast
2024-25 Capsule Preview
–Head coach/season: Adam Fisher/2nd season
–2023–24 record: 16-20, 5-13 American Athletic Conference (Big5Hoops.com 2023-24 Temple Review Story)
–Key returnees: 6-4 SR G Shane Dezonie (7.9 ppg), 6-2 GR G Matteo Picarelli (7.0 ppg), 6-10 SR F Steve Settle III (8.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg)
–Key losses: Sam Hofman (5.7 rpg; out of eligibility), Hysier Miller (15.9 ppg; transferred to Virginia Tech), Jordan Riley (11.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg; transferred to East Carolina), Jahlil White (10.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg; transferred to La Salle)
–Key additions: 6-4 JR G Jameel Brown (Penn State), 6-8 JR F Elijah Gray (Fordham), 6-2 SR G Lynn Greer III (Saint Joseph’s), 7-1 JR C Mohamed Keita (Tulsa), 6-2 GR G Jamal Mashburn Jr. (New Mexico)
–KenPom preseason ranking: 138 out of 364 Division I teams
–American Athletic Conference preseason ranking: 6th out of 13 teams
–Tip–ins: Mashburn was named to the AAC Preseason All-Conference First Team. … The Owls had a surprising run to the AAC final last spring, winning four games in four days before losing to 2024-25 preseason league favorite UAB 85-69 in the title game on March 17. … Miller, Riley, and White were the Owls’ three leading scorers, combining for 37.9 points per contest. … Settle had a team-best 30 blocks last season. … Brown was highly touted coming out of Westtown, but the Philadelphia native didn’t have the anticipated success in two seasons at Penn State. In 2023-24, Brown played in 27 games for the Nittany Lions, averaging 4.0 points in 10 minutes per contest. He shot 31.9 percent (29 of 91) from three-point range. … Gray averaged 8.4 points and 3.7 rebounds in 18.0 minutes for Fordham last season. He led the Rams by making 76.7 percent from the free-throw line. …. Keita is a native of Conakry, Guinea. He played at St. John’s in a limited role in 2022-23 before appearing in 24 games at Tulsa last season and averaging 1.1 points and 1.5 rebounds in 7.5 minutes. … Mashburn started his career at Minnesota before playing the last three seasons at New Mexico. His father played 12 seasons in the NBA after being the No. 4 overall pick in the 1993 NBA draft out of Kentucky. … Greer will sit out the first nine games after being suspended due to violations that occurred while attending his previous institution, according to a press release.
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–Temple Season Preview Podcast: Click below to listen to the Bracy Sports Media Podcast Season Preview of Temple on YouTube. You can also search Bracy Sports Media on Apple, Spotify, RSS, etc. Please like and subscribe to the podcast.
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Aaron Bracy has been covering Philadelphia sports since 1996. His byline regularly appears on Associated Press stories. Follow Bracy on X: @Aaron_Bracy and like his Facebook and Instagram pages. His book on the 2003-04 Saint Joseph’s men’s basketball team is expected to be published on March 1, 2025. Read a summary and preorder it by clicking HERE. Contact him at aaron@big5hoops.com.